WELLS WINS CONFERENCE TITLE
SSix strokes were all that separated the St. Paul Wildcats from securing the team title at last week’s LouPlatte Conference golf meet.
On the links at the Centura Hills Golf Club outside of Cairo, St. Paul had a pair of golfers finish in the medals, with both Sam Wells and Beau Paro ending up in the top four. That strong finish allowed the team to shoot a 344, which put them in second place. Doniphan-Trumbull won the team title at last week’s meet, with the Cardinals carding a 339 at the event hosted by Wood River to end up as the 2023 conference.
Wells paced the field last Thursday. The junior ended up hitting a seventy-six last week, which is four strokes over par for the Cairo course. On the first nine holes of the course, Wells shot a thirty-nine, while the Wildcat ended up with a thirty-seven on the back nine. Wells had a pair of birdies during the round. The St. Paul golfer shot one-under-par on the fifth hole and then saved another stroke on the fifteenth.
Doniphan-Trumbull’s Jett Hollister came in second after he hit an eighty on the course. The Cardinal led the field by one stroke after nine holes, but finished the back nine with a forty-two to finish as the runner-up.
Hayden Dzingle of Doniphan-Trumbull, Ayden Zikmund of Central, and Paro all ended up firing a fortyone last week at the conference meet. Of those three, Zikmund finished with the best score after playing the first nine holes at Centura Hills, yet the Bison only secured fifth place at the meet. Dzingle came in third, while Paro finished in fourth.
On Thursday, Paro hit a forty-one on the front nine and shot a forty on the back nine, with the freshman parring five of his last nine holes.
Other members of the Wildcats’ team to play the course at Cairo last week included Ryder Anderson, Kage Collins, and Drew Becker.
Anderson ended up just outside of the medals after he hit a ninety-two to finish up sitting in eighteenth. The junior completed the first nine holes by carding a forty-six and then mirrored that score on the back nine.
Anderson’s best performance of the day came on the fifth hole, where the Wildcat recorded a birdie.
Collins wasn’t far behind his teammate. The Wildcat ended up hitting a ninety-five to finish sitting in twenty-second. Becker rounded out the team’s performance on Thursday after he scored a 103 to place thirty-first in the field.
In addition to the Wildcats, other teams to tee off at Centura Hills last week included Wood River, who placed third after the Eagles shot a 353; Central City, a team that carded a 363 for fourth; Ord; Ravenna; Gibbon; Centura; and Arcadia/Loup City.
Centura had four golfers participate in the conference competition, which allowed the team to finish in the team standings. The Centurions shot a 431 last week to end up sitting in eighth. The Burgundy and Gray eclipsed the boys from Arcadia/Loup City, who finished in ninth after they ended up shooting a 463.
Easton Brand capitalized on his home-course advantage to fire an eightyseven, which put the senior in thirteenth place. Other members of the Centurions’ team included Blake Suntych, Noles Christensen, and Will Ford. Suntych hit a 107, Christensen finished with a 121, and Ford carded a 116.
This week, St. Paul is scheduled to wrap-up their regular season on the links on Thursday when they compete at the Minden Invite. After seeing the competition on the links at the Minden Country Club, St. Paul will prepare for the post season.
The Wildcats have been assigned to the District C-4 Meet at Indianhead Golf Club on May 16th. Among the other teams also slated to compete in that district will be Doniphan-Trumbull, Central City, Centura, and Grand Island Central Catholic.